Biden WAS a Game Changer

I was slammed by some members here for suggesting that the Biden pick and McCain's approach to campaigning against him would potentially put Huck back on the table as a veep pick.

I never said that he would just get the pick, but that he would probably get a second look.

It appears others now agree with me.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NmNkNzdjYjhkMjY3NjdkZTdlYTYyMmY0NjJmMWVjOTQ=

Huckabee as VP Rich Lowry

There's no indication that Huckabee is being considered, so consider this idle speculation like the Hillary chatter prior to Obama's pick. But wouldn't Huckabee make a lot of sense given the things we've learned the last two weeks? 1) McCain might have a "wealth problem," and certainly Democrats are going to try to hit his wealth for all its worth in their play for working-class voters; Huckabee doesn't have a problem on this front, and has lots of working-class cred. 2) The pro-choice trial balloon hasn't been well received, and it's clear that a pro-choice nominee would create a major disruption; Huckabee is pro-life. 3) Obama picked Biden who is going to a vivid presence (for better or worse) on the stump and could be formidable in debate; Huckabee is a great campaigner and might be just the guy to puncture Biden in a debate. 4) (This is a less important point.) The McCain folks have made a huge deal about differences between Obama and Biden during the primaries; McCain and Huckabee didn't have much in the way of differences and went out of their way to praise each other. The other upsides are the press likes Huckabee (for now), he's a different kind of Republican, and his selection would be such a shock, it might even be considered bold. The downsides are—as I've noted many times before—he doesn't have much in the way of national security credentials and has a big seriousness gap, obviously not trifling matters. But if McCain can't do Lieberman, and isn't thrilled by Pawlenty or Romney, Huckabee might be worth a last-minute second look.

The New York Times thought it was a valid enough question to share Lowry's thoughts with their readership.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/a-look-at-huck/?scp=1&sq=A%20LOOK%20AT%20HUCK&st=cse

Andrew Sullivan over at The Atlantic Blog was also interested enough in the discussion to publish one of his reader submissions that made the case for Huckabee.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/mccains-veep-di.html

McCain's Veep Dilemma
26 Aug 2008 09:44 am

A reader writes:

I agree with everything your reader said on Romney but ... Biden would CHEW Pawlenty up, vomit him, make mincemeat of him and rechew him up. Which is why people are right when they say McCain is boxed in with his VP pick.

For whatever flaws Obama's choices had, none of the choices of McCain make sense. Lieberman's downsides are obvious. Meg Whitman would be smart politics but completely deprive him of the whole "inexperience" thing that is clearly at the core of his "official message" against Obama. Romney is a catastrophe. Pawlenty is a pathetic lightweight. Interestingly, Huckabee does seem like someone who makes sense (in a way that kind of crazy makes sense for a Republican) and sure enough, Ambinder says he is the one Obama people fears. But we know he is - like a certain lady - saving himself for 2012 and is not being vetted - or is he?

McCain-Huckabee? Is Pawlenty that reminiscent of Quayle?

Musing about Huckabee's prospects as a veep pick at this stage of the game should not be news, because in my opinion he should always have been a part of the discussion. The same sense of disrespect  and frustration that Hillary's people feel with Barack, is resonating in our camp regarding how dismissive of Huckabee the right has been.

Even before the Biden pick, I think he should have been considered as a viable option, or at least been kept in the mix. With the Biden pick, and the chosen method of campaigning against him, Mccain has painted himself into a corner. He now needs a veep with blue collar appeal, one he does not have a torrid primary history with, one who won a significant number of votes and thus is worthy of being on the ticket, and who also has the debating skills and knowlege base to take on Biden.

Pawlenty may have been acceptable against a Kaine or Byah, but against Biden the Bombastic  Bully, McCain needs not Huckabee Lite, but the original to seal the deal.

I may be wrong, but I don't know where else he goes with this.